Both Russian and European negotiators said the consultations were “purely technical”

BRUSSELS, September 04. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian and European Commission experts have agreed positions in the run-up to a trilateral ministerial meeting on gas, so the way the talks will proceed now depends entirely on the Ukrainian side, a source in Brussels told ITAR-TASS.

“The European Commission will discuss that issue with Ukraine when the EC’s deputy chief for energy Gunther Oettinger and Ukrainian Coal and Industry Minister Yuriy Prodan meet in Baku on September 8. A decision when and where the trilateral ministerial talks will be held is to follow shortly afterwards,” the source said. It is expected that the meeting will take place in the middle of September.

Participating in Thursday’s consultations in Brussels were the heads of departments from the Russian Energy Ministry, Gazprom and the European Commission. According to the source, “a variety of scenarios and technical aspects of maintaining the security of gas supply to the EU countries were considered.”

No official commentaries followed after the meeting. Both Russian and European negotiators said the consultations were “purely technical”.